Ella was walking to school. She had been up late and felt herself nodding off, shaking her head once in a while.
She usually walked to school with Jacob, but he had texted her saying to leave without him because he had something to take care of. So she slugged along, motivation dragging without her friend to keep her going.
As she reached the gate of the school, she saw a boy pacing every so often. He looked lost. But that was all her brain could muster to think before she felt her eyes close, heavily.
"... Whoa, you okay?" Ella heard above her. She felt warm arms wrapped around her, and she sighed, feeling safe for some unknown reason. "Um..." Her brain kick started, and her eyes shot open.
"Oh gosh! I am so sorry!" she said, somewhat sleepily as she hurriedly wiped some drool off the side of her mouth. "I don't know what just happened! I didn't mean-" The person who had caught her began to laugh. It was the boy she'd seen seconds earlier at the gate.
"I've never seen anyone pass out like that," he chuckled. "Stay up late or something?"
Ella nodded shamefully. "Let's just say I'm having slight regrets," she giggled. "Ah yes right, I'm Ella," she stated after clearing her throat.
"Nice to meet you, Ella, my name is Xavier," the boy replied, smiling warmly. "You know, you shouldn't stay up so late if your body can't take it," he stated, continuing his laughter from before. Ella liked his laugh.
"You're right..." Ella sighed, smiling jokingly. "Xavier, huh? Xav then."
The boy stopped and stared. "Xav?" he asked, clearly confused.
"Yep. Like save, but with a 'z' sound. It's your new nickname. For me at least. That way! When you play baseball, I can yell 'XAV' instead of 'SAFE' when you get to a base." She nodded, a determined look on her face.
Xavier stared for a little longer before bursting out laughing. "That is the first time I have ever heard someone shorten Xavier that way. You're a funny girl, Ella. I guess I'll be looking forward to playing baseball then." Ella joined in, giggling.
"So what were you doing before this? You seemed a bit lost," Ella inquired, curious.
"Ahh... Well y'see, I'm supposed to be transferring to this school tomorrow, so I wanted to scope it out, but I had no idea you needed a student pass to get past the gate, and I couldn't see any other entrance."
"I see... that would be confusing. Well, lucky for you, I happen to have a student pass." She flashed a smile.
"I kinda guessed that with the uniform," Xavier pointed to her and grinned.
"Oh. Right," Ella laughed. "Ah well anyways, shall we?" She curtsied teasingly and Xavier bowed, following her as she slid her student card onto the reader.
The scanner turned orange. "Almost late I see, Miss. Lockwood." A voice came from the scanner.
"Ah!" she yelled, startled. "Mrs. Jem, I will never get used to you spying on us." Ella pouted, and the voice on the speaker chuckled.
"You have a visitor with you?" she asked.
"Oh, right, this is Xavier. He's going to-"
"OH! The transfer student! I've heard about him! Bring him on in, we'll give him a visitor pass."
Ella looked like she was about to protest at the rude interruption, but she deflated. It was too early, and she was much too tired to work herself up. "Ready, Xav?"
Xavier still giggled at the nickname, but nodded.
"ELLAAAA!" They both turned abruptly towards the upset. A boy was sprinting and skidded to a halt in front of the gate, chest heaving. "Made it," he sighed deeply in relief. "Sorry I couldn't walk with you!"
"Oh. Hi Jacob. It's no problem, seemed like you had something important," she said smiling widely. Her childhood friend often worried about her. That made her somewhat happy.
"Ah," Jacob said breathlessly. "Who's this?" he asked before gripping his knees. "I'm so out of shape," he wheezed.
"Haha, this is Xavier. He's going to be transferring to the school tomorrow. He kinda caught me as I almost collapsed."
"What?" Jacob said, worry plastered on his face.
"You worry too much, Jacob," Ella laughed. "I just didn't get much sleep last night is all."
"That is your fatal flaw, Ella Lockwood," Jacob remarked, sighing.
Ella considered for a moment. "Yep, you're probably right, there." Xavier chuckled, and Jacob shook his head.
A bell in the distance rung, and the small group exchanged panicked glances.
"Run?" Ella asked.
"RUN!" Jacob confirmed.
